Families Divided
by Puddycat
Summary: Reposting after major editing. When Macavity attacks the junkyard, the repercussions affect the whole tribe. Focuses more on Exotica and Alonzo than others.


After a severe editing, this is a hell of a lot better than it was first time round (if you didn't read that one, be grateful). It's sort of about the whole tribe, but mainly focuses on Alonzo and Exotica and how they react. First few chapters are just to give an idea of relationships before anything happens, then it's on to being mean to the characters.

I just randomly felt like writing some of the kitten's speech how he'd say it at that age, just 'cause it makes him sound cuter.

Disclaimer: Do I _look_ like Andrew Lloyd Webber or TS Eliot?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Waking up with a wide yawn and a stretch, Exotica sorted through what she had to do that day in her mind. The first thing she needed to do was check on Renlay – the older queen was due to have kittens that day, and it was tradition that the whole tribe, or as many that could make it, were gathered in the clearing at the time if the birth. If Exotica missed that, there would be hell to pay. There wasn't anything else she had to do that day, so she had figured that she would just spend the day hanging out with Munkustrap and Alonzo. Stretching again, she headed for the entrance to her den, almost outside when she practically collided with her sister.

"Heaviside, Exotica, don't do that!" Esastine complained, clutching her paw to her heart dramatically.

"You're the one that was running," Exotica pointed out shrewdly. Her sister flashed her an impish grin before grabbing her paw and dragging her outside.

"C'mon, we've got to go, Renlay's having her kittens."

Exotica followed behind her sister, as usual silently complaining about how she was the plain one – Esastine had several faint black stripes on her brown body and tail, while Exotica was just brown. Sure, it made it easier for her to hide in the shadows during the occasional game of Hide and Seek, but it was an incredibly boring coat to have. At least, it was to Exotica – Esastine always complained that the stripes weren't flattering in the slightest, and that she'd give anything to have her sister's coat.

As they arrived in the clearing, Exotica could hear the excited muttering of the tribe and see the impatient fidgeting; litters consisting of only one kitten were rare – not unheard of, but rare. Kittens that were born on the exact day they were due hadn't happened in the junkyard yet, so this kitten would be the first to be both. It was causing such interest among tribe members and it hadn't even been born yet; Exotica could only imagine how the tribe would react when they first saw it.

Her ears picked up several conversations, but only one caught her attention.

"Look, Alonzo, it's not as if you're life's going to end right here and now," a familiar voice said. Exotica looked ahead and saw Munkustrap roll his eyes at Alonzo.

"There's no kitten on the face of the earth that could ever live up to being as horrible as you reckon this one's going to be," Plato reasoned from Alonzo's other side. "Hell, to do that they'd have to be an even worse version of Macavity, put in kitten form."

"It'll take over my life!" Alonzo complained. He definitely was _not_ looking forward to having a younger sibling to look after; it was alright for Munkustrap and Plato – their brothers were from the same litter, but Alonzo's littermates had been stillborn and he didn't want to have to change anything to make room for a younger sibling.

"Heaviside, you're a bigger drama queen than Tugger," Munkustrap smirked, knowing that would wind Alonzo up.

"No-one can be a bigger drama queen than Tugger," Plato smiled. They all liked the oddly-coloured cat well enough, but he did have his moments. Alonzo had been about to reply, but he dropped it the second his father emerged from the upturned fridge the Jellicles used as a hospital.

"Here we go," he muttered.

Renlay followed him out, a tiny tuxedo kitten curled up in her arms, with Jellylorum and Jennyanydots behind her. The new mother looked completely exhausted, yet undeniably pleased with herself; she looked over at Alonzo and smiled warmly.

"Come and see your new brother," she said, her voice sounding tired but happy.

"At least it's not a queen," the patched tom shuddered. He didn't make a move until Munkustrap pushed him forward, which earned the silver and black cat a murderous look.

"His name's Mistoffelees," Shirram, Alonzo's father, announced proudly. "Misto for short."

Alonzo examined the kitten for a moment, before sniffing and straightening up.

"Not much to look at, is he?"

Munkustrap snorted and stuffed his paw in his mouth, overcome by a wave of silent laughter. Plato looked like he was trying hard to keep a straight face, but failed miserably when the silver tabby caught his eye.

Renlay wandered through the group of cats so that everyone could see her newborn kitten, and each cat commented on how small he was, Exotica included. She was surprised at how a kitten that small could survive, and had been about to say so out loud, before thinking better of it and keeping quiet; there had been too many stillborns in the tribe before, and the subject was always a sore one.

"Heaviside, the thing's a squirt," Alonzo muttered to Munkustrap. By this point, Exotica had made her way over to the toms and was listening to them with an amused glint in her eyes.

"He's a kitten, they're supposed to be small," Munkustrap said, rolling his eyes as he prayed to the Everlasting Cat that he wouldn't have to explain to his friend exactly why kittens had to be that size.

"He's a midget!"

"He's a kitten!"

"Shrimp."

"Kitten."

"Titch."

"Kitten."

"Runt, and if you say 'kitten' one more time I'll rip your tail off," Alonzo threatened.

"I'd like to see him try," Munkustrap muttered to Exotica under his breath. There was a few seconds' pause before Munkustrap broke the silence with a loud cough that sounded remarkably like "kitten".

Alonzo pounced on the silver tabby, who tripped him up and sent him crashing into Exotica, who wrinkled her nose at him before cuffing him round the ear with her paw. He flicked her nose, which she took as a challenge and pounced on him, wrestling him to the ground and poking him relentlessly.

"Are you not joining in?" Esastine, who had followed her sister over, asked the remaining two toms.

"No way," Plato answered. "Alonzo's dad scares me."

Munkustrap sniggered, but promptly stopped when Esastine turned her gaze onto him. She looked like she was about to repeat the question, but he nodded his head in the direction of the rest of the tribe; they were completely still and silent, watching the young cats wrestle with mixed expressions on their faces.

Exotica was first out of the two of them to notice that they were being stared at. She let Alonzo go and sat up, a completely innocent air surrounding her - Munkustrap could practically see the halo. Alonzo also sat up, but he was having trouble keeping a straight face, especially since the other three young cats had their backs to the rest of the tribe and were taking the opportunity to pull faces at him while the older cats couldn't see them.

"Now, now, Alonzo, is that any way to behave just after your little brother's been born?" Munkustrap whispered quietly so the rest of the tribe couldn't hear. He grinned and poked his tongue out as the patched tom glared at him.

"Alonzo, what were you doing?" Shirram asked, although he knew the answer perfectly well.

"Nothing…" the young cat tried to lie.

"Is that correct?" the large black tom said amusedly.

"I was just… coming up with games to play with Squirt."

"Squirt?"

"I meant Misto…"

Alonzo glanced across and noticed that Exotica had sloped away to the back of the group of Jellicles, where she knew she wouldn't be noticed. He shot a glare at her, but she merely stuck her tongue out in response.

"Just for that, you can watch him next week while we're with Deuteronomy."

"Do I have to?"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The very second after Renlay and Shirram were no longer in sight Mistoffelees became intent on annoying his brother. The patched tom tried to pick him up and carry him over to his friends, and although his eyes had only just opened, the kitten was having none of it. He struggled, and when Alonzo still didn't let him down he leaned around and lightly nipped his older brother on the shoulder; it wasn't painful, but it was enough of a shock that Alonzo dropped him. Mistoffelees landed on his paws and scampered away from his brother, who promptly began muttering obscenities under his breath as he went after the small kitten.

"Flaming kitten, he's worse than a flea," he muttered to Munkustrap, Exotica and Admetus after he had finally managed to get the little tux over to them. The other young cats were out exploring the city, but the remaining trio had promised to help Alonzo take care of his little brother.

The patched tom tried to pick Mistoffelees up to move him, but the tux dodged him and ran over to Munkustrap; after tickling the kitten behind the ears, he successfully picked him up and carried him back over to Alonzo.

"How come he lets you carry him, but bites me?" Alonzo complained. "I'm his brother!"

"He _bit_ you?" Munkustrap asked, staring at the kitten.

"On a athkident," the kitten insisted, his speech limited by his age and a slight lisp. The corners of the silver tabby's mouth twitched as he fought back a smile.

"Are you sure?" he asked the tux, who nodded so fervently that Munkustrap worried that the kitten's head would detach from his body. "What happened that made you bite him?"

"He pulleded me 'way."

"Did not!" Alonzo protested.

"Did too!"

"What was he pulling you away from?" Munkustrap asked, ignoring Alonzo's indignation for the moment. Mistoffelees paused and his brow creased slightly.

"Yeah, come on, what was I pulling you away from?"

"Sumfin…"

Alonzo poked his tongue out triumphantly at his brother while Munkustrap suppressed a laugh and Mistoffelees sulked.

"Aww, leave him alone," Exotica smiled. "He's only a kitten."

"Yeah!" said kitten agreed. "You're mean!" He paused for a moment before adding: "An' I'm not a kitten."

"So you're a puppy, then?" Alonzo teased. The tux's brow furrowed slightly.

"Whassa puppy?"

"Never mind. It's time for you to go to bed, Flea."

"Flea?" Munkustrap asked on Mistoffelees' behalf, who was still too concerned with finding out what a puppy was and why his brother wouldn't tell him to wonder why Alonzo was calling him 'Flea'.

"He's annoying," the patched cat shrugged.

After putting the kitten to bed and waiting until his parents came back to leave him, Alonzo went back outside to his friends. There were more cats now, because the others had returned from the city with stories of fresh-cooked food being thrown out of restaurants, huge boxes on wheels, and Pollicles being tied to humans – the ultimate humiliation. Of course, the Jellicles were incredibly sympathetic; they didn't laugh half as much as they wanted to. Although that was more due to Renlay telling them to be quiet because Mistoffelees was sleeping than sympathy for the Pollicles...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Less than a week later, Alonzo had to watch Mistoffelees again. When he went to collect him, instead of trying to pick him up, he let the tux walk beside him; it seemed to work, as the kitten wasn't as intent on escaping as he had been before.

Alonzo led the kitten to a small clearing where all of the young cats were lounging on various bits of junk or on the ground; Exotica, Esastine, Munkustrap, Plato, Tugger, Admetus and several others were all there, everyone turning to look at them as they entered. Alonzo noticed Mistoffelees stay closer to him, but he just put it down to the kitten never having met most of the cats. They settled on a mattress and again the kitten stayed close to his brother, even when normal conversation resumed.

After a while, Mistoffelees tugged lightly on his brother's forearm to get his attention; the patched cat looked over and saw the tux sitting slightly tense, gaze focused on the mattress.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Can we go?" the kitten whispered softly, his paw tracing a pattern. "I don't like it."

"Why not?"

Mistoffelees silently shook his head, his gaze following the same pattern as his paw. Alonzo looked down at him and saw how shy the younger Jellicle seemed suddenly; he scooted closer and rested a paw on his brother's shoulder.

"C'mon, tell me, Flea," he said softly. "If I don't know what it is, I can't make it better."

"I don't know them," the little tux whispered. He looked up at Alonzo, his eyes betraying a slight trace of desperation to leave. "Can we go?"

The older cat suspected there was more the kitten didn't like, but he saw how apprehensive Mistoffelees was and nodded to him.

"Okay, we'll go. But you've got to tell me what else is bothering you on the way back."

Mistoffelees nodded, and Alonzo smiled at him reassuringly before raising his voice to talk to the whole group.

"Guys, we're going to head off."

"You only just got here," Tugger pointed out. "Why're you off again now?"

Alonzo had to stop himself from glancing at Mistoffelees, who had firmly attached himself to the patched cat's side. Munkustrap had been watching the brothers out of the corner of his eye and could tell there was something up with Mistoffelees and that it was better if Tugger didn't know.

"Misto's probably just tired, Tugs," he said, distracting his brother's and everyone else's attention away from the two black and white cats. Alonzo smiled at him gratefully as they slipped away. "Next time, try to not sound like you're questioning Macavity."

"I just asked why they were going, it's not exactly an inquisition."

"It is if you're a kitten," Munkustrap shrugged. Tugger rolled his eyes at his brother as conversation once again resumed normally.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So why did you want to go?" Alonzo asked as they walked. Mistoffelees lowered his gaze to the floor and didn't answer; the older cat circled round in front of him and lightly grabbed his shoulders, leaning down so he was eye-level with the kitten. "C'mon, you promised you'd tell me."

Mistoffelees looked away, chewing on his bottom lip – did he really want Alonzo to know? His brother forced him to sit down before moving so that they were next to each other and looping an arm across Mistoffelees' shoulders.

"If I don't know what was bothering you, I can't make sure it doesn't happen again, can I?" Alonzo reasoned to his brother.

"You'll make fun of me," the kitten whispered.

"I won't, Flea, I promise."

"You did then, you called me Flea."

"That's just my name for you… I mean look at Tugger and Munku. They're brothers, like us, 'cept they're the same age, but they've got their own names for each other that no-one else uses. Like just then, Munku called Tugger 'Tugs', and he always calls Munku 'Straps', but no-one else in the tribe does. No-one apart from you calls me 'Lonz', do they?"

Mistoffelees shook his head, beginning to smile slightly, but that faded all too quickly when Alonzo returned to the original subject.

"You still haven't told me what was bothering you," he said. "I promise I won't tease you."

The kitten bowed his head and muttered something inaudible, which Alonzo ordered him to repeat at a decent volume.

"I don't like that many…" the young kitten whispered softly. Alonzo just stared at him, clueless as to what he meant. "They all watcheded me."

"You don't like being around that many cats?" Alonzo asked, finally figuring out what the kitten was talking about. "It's okay, they won't do anything, they're my friends."

Mistoffelees still looked unconvinced and apprehensive at the thought of being around that many cats at once.

"How about we only go when there's only a few of them until you get to know them all better, yeah? How's that?"

The kitten nodded, and Alonzo wrapped him up in a reassuring hug. After they set off on their way back to the den, one thought struck Alonzo: at first he hadn't wanted a little brother, but now he wouldn't give him up for the world.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

All together now - aww! Next chapter should be more about Exotica's relationship with her sister, maybe a couple of other cats' relationships as well, but they'll just be in background.


End file.
